Enel Commissions Largest Solar Project In South America

Italian developer Enel’s subsidiary Enel Green Power Brasil Participações (EGPB) announced the operation of two solar power plants located in Brazil with an aggregate capacity of 546 megawatts.

The two solar plants include the 254 megawatt Ituverava and the 292 megawatt Nova Olinda solar parks. According to Enel, they are currently the biggest solar parks in South America. Both the plants will be operated under a 20-year long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Brazilian Chamber of Commercialization of Electric Energy.

The 254 megawatt (MW) Ituverava plant is located in Bahia state’s Tabocas do Brejo Velho municipality. The plant comprises of 850,000 PV panels with an expected annual output of over 550 gigawatt-hours, which will be enough to meet the electricity requirement of more than 268,000 Brazilian households each year.

The 292 MW Nova Olinda plant is located in Ribeira do Piaui municipality. The plant is comprised of 930,000 modules which are expected to generate more than 600 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year, or enough for the consumption of 300,000 local homes.

The company stated that it has invested about $400 million for the 254 megawatt Ituverava solar plant. This solar plant was financed by Enel’s own resources, Bank of China and Santander, backed by China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure). The second plant, the 292 megawatt Nova Olinda was constructed with a budget of $300 million. The financing was provided by Enel’s own resources and assistance from local lender Banco do Nordeste (BNB).

Enel currently has 2,276 megawatts of operational renewables capacity in Brazil comprising of 670 megawatts of wind and 716 megawatts of solar projects and an additional 275 megawatts capacity is under construction.

More Projects On The Way

The projects commissioned by Enel in Brazil will be surpassed as the largest in South America in a few months as the Italian company’s Mexican subsidiary commissions the Villanueva solar power complex. The solar power complex will include two projects –- the 427 megawatt Villanueva 1 and 327 megawatt Villanueva 3. The projects are scheduled to be commissioned in the second half of 2018. An estimated 1,700 GWh electricity would be generated from the park every year, or enough to meet the power consumption of more than 1.3 million households. The projects will also offset more than 780,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. Enel Green Power will invest $650 million on these projects.

Enel Green Power Peru will likely commission a 160 megawatt solar power project in Peru in few months as well. This will add to another 160 megawatts of solar projects that Enel currently operates in Chile.

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